This invention relates to the art of doors and, more particularly, to a method for repairing a damaged door and to a prefabricated door repair section.
The invention is especially applicable to corrugated metal doors of the type used on railroad cars and will be particularly described with reference thereto. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention has broader aspects and can be used on doors of other types and in other environments.
Rectangular metal doors of a known type used on railroad cars include a generally rectangular frame having door top, bottom, and opposed side frame members. Corrugated metal panels are disposed between and secured to these frame members for completing the basic door construction.
Doors of the general construction described are highly susceptible to damage from various causes. Typical of such causes are trucks backing into the doors, fork lifts or other material handling equipment striking the door and heavy items striking the door when the items are being loaded or unloaded. Damage may also occur when persons do not fully open the door for car loading or unloading purposes.
In order to repair relatively minor damage to doors of the type described, they are commonly fabricated with three corrugated metal panels so that damaged panels can be removed for repair or replacement. When the door frame members are bent, it is sometimes possible to straighten them once the associated door has been removed from the car. However, damage to the door frame members is frequently so extensive that the frame members cannot be straightened. Under such circumstances, the entire door has typically been scraped.
It has been found that extensive and irreparable damage to the frame members normally occurs in the lower one-third section of the door. That is, either the bottom door frame member of the lower one-third of the side door frame members are most likely to be irreparably damaged. This is undoubtedly due to the fact that the lower one-third section of the door is closest to the car floor so that equipment, trucks and movement of items is most likely to result in damage to the door nearer the car floor than at locations spaced substantially above the floor.
It has been considered desirable to develop a way of economically and simply repairing extensive damage to lower sections of corrugated metal doors so as to reduce the occurrences of scrapping entire doors. Such a repair arrangement should be readily adapted to use with a wide varity of door sizes and styles.